No. 7 Auburn and No. 12 LSU enter conference competition with surprisingly similar starts. Both teams opened the season with upsets of Top 10 teams in neutral site showdowns, and followed them up with blowout wins over weak instate opponents.

So yeah, Saturday promises to be yet another classic chapter in what, over the past 30 years, become one of the most intense and exciting rivalries in college football.

The Plains will be packed this weekend. Here's what you need to know.

WEATHER: Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 73, according to the National Weather Service.Saturday's forecast calls for sunny skies, with a high near 91 and a north wind around 5 mph.

HISTORY: Ah, what to expect at an Auburn-LSU game? Pretty much anything. Earthquakes. Accidentally set fires. Deliberately set fires. And great football games with crazy endings--one of the craziest in Auburn history.

And of course, the last time LSU came to Jordan-Hare, this happened:

Here's hoping ESPN color man Rod Gilmore has since found time for an eye exam.

Interesting stuff about 1988's so-called "Earthquake Game" can be found here.

(Since it actually shaped Auburn gameday policy, we'll get to the '96 "Barn Burner" down in the tailgating section.)

FRIDAY

Instead of trying to focus on the eagle with binoculars you're not allowed to take into the stadium on Saturday (at least inside a case--see details on Auburn's prohibited item list

at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine's Southeastern Raptor Center. It's become a favorite Friday fan fun-tivity in recent years. And you don't just get to peep the eagles

--

$5 gets you photo ops with eagles, hawks, owls, falcons and any other birds of prey Auburn's wing-healing beast masters have on hand. And you get to see them fly around. It's cool. It's educational. The hour-long show starts at 4 p.m. the Friday before every Auburn home game at the 350-seat Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheater, located at 1350 Pratt-Carden Drive off Shug Jordan Parkway. Kids three and under and get in for free.

If raptors aren't your thing, you can tour of Auburn's fancy new 16,000 square feet locker room from 4-6 p.m. at Jordan-Hare Stadium's Gate 10. Or head to the Auburn Alumni Center on S. College Street for a 4 p.m. campus tour courtesy of the War Eagle Girls and Plainsmen.

After that, you can send the team off for the night in style at the Reverse Tiger Walk, which starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Athletics Complex.

At 6 p.m. head to Toomer's for 2018's first Come Home to The Corner for live music and stuff featuring Dallas Dorsey. It's classified as an Entertainment District event, which means you can walk around with a beer in your hand without going to jail. The party goes to 9 p.m.

Auburn's football team is one of the top 10 teams in the country. So is Auburn's soccer team. The No. 9 Tigers currently sit at 7-0, the best start in program history, are set to add to the winning streak Friday against unranked Mississippi State. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. at the Auburn Soccer Complex. Admission is free.

SATURDAY

Auburn has designated the LSU game its first "All Auburn All Orange" game, meaning that earn you ugly stares from the people on your row that you have to scooch by when it's time for a bathroom break.

If you want to be a rebel, that's fine. Just know the risks.

You can find a detailed schedule of events here, but here's a quick breakdown of Saturday's essentials.

For everyone who likes to pregame by totally exhausting yourself with a 5K, or even a 10K, you're in luck! The Chewacla Cha Cha Trail Race around the scene trail loop at Chewacla State Park kicks off at 8 a.m. and finishes at 11 a.m., giving you plenty of time to rehydrate before kickoff in whatever way your conscience dictates. It costs $45 to enter the 5K, $60 to enter the 10K. You get a T-shirt and a medallion and all the endorphins you'll need to make through what's sure to be another emotionally exhausting Auburn-LSU game. You can find more info here.

The Coca-Cola Tigers Fan Fest starts at 10:30 a.m. Giveaways. Bounce houses. A DJ. You can find out more here.

At around 12:30, you can take your Sharpies to the Verizon Autograph Tent on the east campus green autographs from former Auburn greats.

Of course, chances are you'll also want to hit Tiger Walk, which starts at the same time. The often imitated, never duplicated tradition starts at the Athletic Complex on S. Donahue Drive will start, as always, two hours before kickoff. You'll want to find a spot early.

Here's how last year's first Tiger Walk looked:

After Tiger Walk comes the short Spirit March, at 5:10 p.m., then a pep rally at the corner of Heisman Drive and Donahue Drive.

If you didn't see the eagle flight, did you even go to the game? It's debatable. To be safe, make sure you're in your seat, cameras ready, by 2:23 p.m. Gates open at 12:30 p.m.

TAILGATING

Auburn has a better reason for enforcing their tailgating rules than most.

To wit:

Yes, the best guess as to the causes of the monstrous blaze that consumed the old Auburn Sports Arena and melted cars and $38,000 worth of gymnastics equipment during the 1996 Auburn-LSU game? Careless tailgaters forced into places they shouldn't have been--possibly even indoors!--due to pregame rains.

Jordan-Hare, like most major stadiums these days, only allows bags you can see into to make it through the gates. You can get the full scoop here, but this graphic tells you most everything you need to know.

PARKING

If you're faithful in your attendance, you probably already have a favorite secret spot you always try to go for, crossing your fingers, hoping for the best. Want to remove a little of that stress? Well, Auburn's Parking Powers That Be have recently partnered with Parking Panda, which allows fans to pre-order five-hours worth of parking in three lots each only about a five-minute's walk from Jordan-Hare.

TRANSIT

Thankfully, no matter where you park, getting to the stadium doesn't have to equal a week's worth of cardio. The university conscripts its fleet of Tiger Transit buses to offer free rides to Jordan-Hare from spots both on and off campus starting four hours before the game and continuing for two hours after the final whistle. It's pretty convenient. And you can actually track your bus' location and capacity status in real time via the Tiger Transit app.

The Lee-Russell Public Transit folks get in on the action, too, at least for folks staying in any of the hotels around Tiger Town just over the Auburn city limits in Opelika. Same hours, same price: Free.

The university has once again asked fans to refrain from rolling the new Toomer's Oaks (or rather the new new Toomer's Oaks), but since fans have established plenty of new targets around Toomer's Corner (and a decent stretch of Samford Lawn), you'll hardly notice.

Also, they strongly discourage anyone from doing what happened after the last time LSU came to town:

You can learn more about the history of college football's most Charmin post-game tradition here.